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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

I am a servant. Have been my entire life. This past week I, along with many of the other servants, have been called to help prepare for the wedding. The master is getting married. Even I can see how excited the bridegroom is. He wants all his friends to come. He invited everyone from the city, and, of course, he hopes to impress the bride's father. We've been busy preparing for his big wedding every hour these past weeks. Oh, I know, in your day it's the bride's job to arrange and prepare for the wedding, but not in mine. Nope, it's the bridegroom's job. We servants have been up before the sun and working long after it sets to keep up with the extra work.Each day the bridegroom leaves instructions for the preparations then tends to his matters which sometimes takes him away from the grounds. When he returns, he expects everything to the last detail completed exactly the way he wants.The bridegroom is not rich. I'd know that. He'd give us more if he had it, because he is a fair man, but he doesn't have a lot.This morning the bridegroom kept his head, mostly, although I could tell he is a bit nervous. He leaves instructions then goes off to dress for the ceremony.Men and women pour into the grounds from all over the city to attend the wedding. I'm not allowed to watch the ceremony, but it seems everyone is happy, which means the bridegroom is happy.At the end of the ceremony, the people move to the banquet hall and take their assigned seats. We servants have to work fast to get the food served to all the guests. The wine glasses empty faster than we can keep them filled! I run back to get more and see we'd run out.One of the guests, a woman named Mary from Nazareth, happens to stand near me when I mentioned the problem to another servant. She turns to a man standing near her. I'd seen him before. The man is her son. Jesus. That's right. His name is Jesus, son of Joseph the carpenter. From Nazareth. I didn't mean to listen in on their conversation, but they stand close enough for me to hear their words. She says to him, "They have no more wine." What a strange thing for her to say because a carpenter's family doesn't have a lot of money, and I doubt they have extra wine at their home to share. Not only that, there isn't time for servants to go to their home and bring back any wine.Jesus says, "Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come."What a strange thing to say. What time did he mean? Mary turned to me and a few other servants near me. I step back thinking she would yell at me for hearing the conversation. Instead she points to Jesus, while still looking at us, and says, "Do whatever he tells you."Jesus looks at the six stone water jars behind me. The ones used for ceremonial washing. Each holds twenty to thirty gallons of liquid. He says, "Fill the jars with water."The majority of the guests had drunk enough wine to not know what they were drinking any more. Serving them water instead of wine, though, seems like a crazy idea. Still, we servants do what he says. We fill the jars with water. It took more than one of us to carry each jar back to the ceremony. I wipe sweat from my head and wait for the next instruction. Jesus says, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."In my head I know I will be punished for serving the master water, but I and the others with me obey the instructions. We carry the wine to the master and served him.He takes the wine and tastes it. There is no way he knows where the wine had come from. He sips more and calla the bridegroom to come over. The master has a huge smile on his face and sips more wine while waiting then swallows. "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and saves the cheaper wine to serve after the guests have had too much to drink. But you--you have save the best wine until now."The best wine? But it is water. Some has spilled on my hand. I taste it and am as shocked as the master at the delicious, fine wine taste. How could that be? This was water. I was one who filled the jugs. This man Jesus had changed the water we'd put into the jugs into the finest of all wines for the this wedding. I couldn't help but wonder who Jesus really is. Is He the Messiah?Note: The Bible goes on to say this is the first of Jesus' miraculous signs. Here he revealed his glory, and His disciples put their faith in him.Jesus loves us so much that He would never do or give us anything less than the best.Come back for the next story.

sources: *A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932*New International Version, New King James Version. *My Bible College training.*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.*Pastoral sermons on this time*Matthew Henry Commentary*F. LaGard Smith Commentary*My notes from my trip to Israel.

Monday, May 29, 2017

My name is Jonathan Goforth. My wife, Rosalind and I are missionaries in China. At least we have been.I am healing slowly from my wounds here in Canada where I use to live. When we arrived home from that frightening escape, hundreds of Canadians welcomed us. So many hugged us. "We didn't think you'd make it out of China alive. They wept and begged us to tell the story of what happened.We must have told the story of how God protected us a thousand times. We had no clue there were so many who cared about us.Rosalind, the children, and I needed time to heal. Time to rest. Time to learn what God wanted us to do next. We prayed asking God to show us the way. In our hearts we all knew the answer. As soon as foreigners were allowed back in China, we would go back to help the people and tell them about the God who loves them.The Chinese were not able to solve the problem on their own. Their country was ripped apart with the violence and destruction. Russia, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, and the United States came together and sent soldiers to stop the war. They directed their efforts in Peking where the dowager Tz'u-hsi lived. Dowager Tz'u-hsi encouraged the Chinese people to kill foreigners, burn factories, and churches including ones owned by Chinese who were Christians.The foreign soldiers fought the Imperial Chinese soldiers and the Boxer Rebellion. They forced the dowager to run away to the north. The war finally ended. Violence and destruction stopped. Thousands had died during the uprising.It took over a year to negotiate a peace agreement.During that time I spent my days traveling and telling everyone I knew about the problems in China. How they would need help healing. How missionaries were needed.The signed government agreement was not good, in my opinion. The Chinese lost mostly everything. The government has to pay large amounts of money for the destruction of foreign businesses, they had to take down their coastal defenses, and they had to allow trade that wasn't allowed before.This wasn't an agreement. This was a take over. How could those foreign negotiators think they solved anything by bullying the Chinese? No one listens to a bully. The Chinese people may do what the bully says on the outside but on the inside they will still be angry. What was done will only turn the Chinese men and women more against foreigners.Even those who want to help.Even those who want to show they care.I know missionaries will be able to return soon. When they do, the time to help and share the love of the living God will be short. The job will be difficult. I listened to the news throughout the day and learned the Chinese boarders would open in the middle of October, a little more than a year from when we left. I planned to be among the first to go in and help. I'll leave my family here in Canada, until I know it is safe for them to join me in China.Healed from my physical wounds as best as could be, I boarded the ship for China then turned and waved good bye to my family standing on the shore. My insides were tangled with excitement about returning to China, sadness for leaving my family behind, love for the Chinese people, curiosity if my Changte home was still there. I could hardly focus on anything.May God save us all. War and destruction is such an ugly thing.There is more to this story. Come back next time.Jonathan has many stories to share. Come back each Monday to find out what happened next.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

My name is Nathanael. I'd finished mending my nets for today and was taking a break by sitting under a fig tree. The shade felt good. The breeze felt good too.I must have fallen asleep because I woke and found Philip shaking my shoulder. Philip and I have been friends a long time.Anyway, he shook my shoulder and told me to wake up. He rambled on about seeing some man and how he wanted me to go with him to see this person.Not likely. I wanted to rest before taking the boat out to fish tonight."Nathanael, I'm telling you this is for real. I heard him.""Heard who?""I saw Peter and Andrew walking with a man." Philip laughed. "I spoke with the man. It's him!""Him who?" This was getting annoying."Nathanael, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets wrote about later. He is here! It's Jesus of Nazareth. The son of Joseph the carpenter.""You have to be kidding me. Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?" I didn't mean Nazareth was a bad city. It just, well, Nazareth is off the main road and on the other side of the mountains. They don't keep up with the times in anything. Food. Clothes. All the new ways of doing things. Nazareth is just a small nothing of a city.Philip put his hands on his hips. "All right then. Come and see." I had to admit, Philip was pretty determined and he was my friend. So, I dragged myself up to a stand and walked with him. "Where are we going?""Just a little farther. Hurry. I don't want him to leave before we get there." Philip sped up the pace. Just because he was my friend, and only because he was my friend, I walked faster.

We stopped near a small group of men. I saw Peter and Andrew and greeted them. There was a man standing with them that I did not recognize. He looked at me and said, "Ahh, now here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false."How strange. He acted like we'd met before. "How do yo know me?"Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip woke you and asked you to go with him."That was all I needed to hear. I believed what Philip said earlier right then. "Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." I hardly knew what to do. Should I bow? Should I fall to the ground? Should I...I didn't know.Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." I was very curious what he meant by that. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God going up and coming down to the Son of Man."He definitely had my interest. And yes I did believe this man was the Messiah. I just never imagined that I would live to see him. Yet there He was.

sources: *A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932*New International Version, New King James Version. *My Bible College training.*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.*Pastoral sermons on this time*Matthew Henry Commentary*F. LaGard Smith Commentary

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

The area of Bethsaida. A community where those in needcould use these stones to grind if they didn't have oneat home. This was a marketplace where fishermen soldtheir daily catch. A place where people came for food.Photo by Mary Vee

My name is Philip. For those who have read through the Scriptures, you will know that there isn't much written about my life. That's because I am a quiet, behind the scenes kind of person.I was working the day a man came to me. I didn't know who he was.

He stopped as if he wanted to speak to me personally. I was curious so I set aside my work and waited for him to speak.The man simple said, "Follow me."On the inside of my head I should have sensed caution, but I didn't. I didn't know this man, and yet he intrigued me. I became curious, wanting to know more about him. I saw two other men with the stranger. They were fishermen I recognized from my home town. Brothers named, Peter and Andrew. These were hard working men. They seemed confident in connecting with this man. Peter and Andrew practically blurted at the same time, "This is the One we've been looking for. The Messiah."The man spoke, "I am Jesus from Nazareth." I listened to him for a short time. It didn't take much for me to see this man was different. He was someone I wanted to listen to.I'd heard about the carpenter Joseph and his son Jesus. This was that son, now a man. I didn't have to hear any more. Somehow, in my heart, I knew that this man truly was the one. I hardly knew what to say other than, "Do you mind if I find my friend and bring him to you?"He acted as if He knew I would ask.I ran as fast as I could searching in all the normal spots for my friend Nathanael. Friends always tell friends about good things. He had to believe me. I looked at his house. I searched where he worked. Where was he?Finally found him sitting under a fig tree taking a break from the heat. "Nathanael. Get up. I have someone you need to meet.""Why?" He didnt move. "I'm comfortable here." Unbelievable. I didn't want to miss the chance to take Nathanael to meet Jesus. "Look, I saw Peter and Andrew.""So?""They were with this man.""What man?"I rolled my eyes. "The man I want to show you." I ran my hand over my beard and laughed. The most amazing thing happened. We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law. The one whom the prophets also wrote. His name is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."Nathanael shook his head in total disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm not going anywhere. Can anything good come from Nazareth? And you want me to meet this Jesus who is from Nazareth?"I folded my arms and dipped my head. "I guess you will have to come and see for yourself. What would it hurt. If I'm right, you will be a surprised as I was. If I'm wrong you get to make fun of me.""Oh, all right. I guess I could come." He stood. "You better not be wrong.""Oh, I won't be," I said. I took off at a sprint, expecting Nathanael to keep up. I got to thinking as I ran. Why did Jesus choose to talk to me when there were so many other people around. I'm nothing special. I guess I'll have to ask.

sources: *A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932*New International Version, New King James Version. *My Bible College training.*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.*Pastoral sermons on this time*Matthew Henry Commentary*F. LaGard Smith Commentary

Monday, May 22, 2017

My name is Jonathan Goforth. My wife, Rosalind and I are missionaries in China.

I sat on the floor in the rented unfurnished small home exhausted. I looked at my blood-stained clothes and leaned against the wall so thankful to be alive. God had brought us here safely. I didn't have the strength to praise God out loud, but I did in my heart.Rosalind joined me a while later. She sat on the floor next to me. "The children are asleep. Their full stomachs helped them rest sooner. It was a good idea to take the children to a restaurant."I put my arm around her. Noises from the crowds blared through the windows. She closed her eyes slowly then opened them. "What are we going to do, Jonathan? We can't go to Canada looking like this." She pulled on her clothes. "We only have these blood-stained rags." She was so tired and emotionally spent. Soon tears poured down her cheeks. "We don't have any clothes to change into for the journey." Her hands flopped down on the floor where she sat. The poor dear. I hugged her. "God is going to work this out for us, Rosalind. He brought us here. You must have faith."She tried the best she could. What she needed mostly was rest. She fell asleep in my arms. I didn't know how the problem could be solved, either. We didn't have different clothes. Everything we owned was stolen. With the Boxer Rebellion in full force, there wouldn't be any stores selling clothes suitable for a westerner. The whole situation had become too big. I laughed to myself. Of course if we had a sewing machine, fabric, and enough time to make clothes for the six of us we could change into something more suitable. At some point I fell asleep. Laughing at the ridiculous idea and thankful my family and I were alive.The next morning, I heard a knock on the door. Rosalind looked at me. No one knew where we were. We didn't know if Chinese had come to attack again. She cower in the corner of the room with the children and whimpered.I opened the door and saw two women. They bowed and I bowed. They said they had seen our names on the refugee list and learned we were missionaries. They also knew we were leaving for Canada in ten days. "Excuse us. We were wondering if you needed sewing done. We are very good. Maybe you need us to make new clothes."Rosalind ran to the door and took their hands in hers. "Bless you. Bless you dear ladies. Yes." She looked down at her clothes and wept. "We need new clothes for our journey. Can you make something for each of us?"The ladies nodded. "Yes. We are fast and can make all your family clothes for your journey."If she had stood in Canada right then, Rosalind surely would have hugged each lady. Instead she bowed. "Thank you."Ten days later, we boarded the ship wearing new clothes. The only one without something new was baby Walter. Rosalind brought the fabric to make him something while we sailed. For now, she wrapped him in the old, dirty towel.

The ship set sail and we were aboard. I had honestly thought we would be in heaven at this point. God spared our lives and placed us on this ship bound for Canada.We stood on the deck and watched our beloved China pull away from us and wept.

There is more to this story. Come back next time.Jonathan has many stories to share. Come back each Monday to find out what happened next.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

My name is Andrew. I have been following John the Baptizer for some time. His words have opened my eyes to the things of God. It's hard to explain, but I feel the validity of the words he speaks in my soul.I have been a fisherman working in the north, by the Sea of Galilee but have take some time away to listen to more of John's words. John had said he had been sent by God to prepare the way for the One. I didn't know exactly what he meant by that but wanted to hear more. In the middle of a sentence John stopped and pointed at a man walking by and shouted, "Look! The Lamb of God!"This was the Man John had told us about. I didn't fully understand who this man was and wanted to find out. I ran to him. We talked for a short time then He invited me and another man to join Him. We spent the whole day listening to what He had to say. I I was so taken by every word, I don't think I ate the entire time. On the inside I blazed with energy. A hunger to know more. A desire to tell everyone about this man and invite them to come hear what He had to say.Like a lightening bolt I thought of my brother and how excited he would be to also hear what this Man had to say. I left the group sitting with The Man. He didn't call out to me to stop. He didn't ask me to explain why I up and left with out an excuse. Could it be that He knew? I had a feeling He did.I ran all the way to the shores of the Sea of Galilee where my brother, Simon and I had a fishing business. This was the time of day when he would have been fixing his nets and preparing to go out fishing. Sand kicked up as I ran to him. "Simon! Simon!""Hold on there, runt. You're kicking sand on my net." He tugged on the net and cleared a space for me."Simon, you've got to come with me. You know how we have waited for the one who would come and save our people?"He didn't look up from his work. "Yeah.""He's here. I heard Him speak. I've spent the day listening to Him. Simon," he finally looked up at me, "We have found the Messiah."My brother let go of his nets and stood. He set his huge hands on my shoulders. "Is this so?"I laughed because I was so happy. "Yes!!! We have found the Messiah."Simon pushed his nets to the side and stepped onto the sand. "Show me."I ran, teasing him to keep up. "C'mon. Faster!"It took him seconds to catch up. He would have passed me if he knew the way. I showed him the place where I had last seen the man. "He's over here."Peter ran ahead then stopped a few feet away from the Man. He looked at Him and listened to what he said the others gathered there.The Man stopped speaking and walked to my brother. He said, "You are Simon, son of John."How did he know? I had told my brother the man didn't know where I went or what I was doing. My brother smiled.The Man then said, "You will be called Cephas which means, Peter."And just like that, we became followers of the Man called Jesus, the Lamb of God. We had so much to learn, and wanted to learn everything we could about the living God whom this man clearly knew more than anyone.I know you can't see me as I am telling you these words, so I will tell you what I am doing. There is a smile on my face such as I've not had in a long time. I have fished for so many years and now I am listening to the Messiah speak!

sources: *A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932*New International Version, New King James Version. *My Bible College training.*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.*Pastoral sermons on this time*Matthew Henry Commentary*F. LaGard Smith Commentary

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

My name is Andrew. I have been following John the Baptizer for some time. His words draw me closer to The Living God. It's hard to explain, but I feel the validity of John the Baptizer's words in my soul.I have been a fisherman working in the north, on the Sea of Galilee. One day I took a break and walked down the Jordan to the wilderness. I saw a crowd gathered around a man and was curious what he was saying. I walked closer and listened. He spoke truths about the living God that hooked me immediately.I suppose I'd heard these words about the God who chose our people at different times in my past, but they'd never impacted me like they did that day. His message helped me understand God's truth and expectations. That the Almighty God demanded we follow Him, obey His words, keep His words ever present in our heads and tell our children.John quoted words from the Scriptures that I hadn't heard in a long time. I wanted to hear more, so I came back to listen again and again.One day, a man came to the shores of the Jordan River where we sat listening to John. He stood among the crowd, listening. Watching. John looked at Him several times. It seemed John was distracted by Him. At first, John stammered then he stopped speaking. He looked at the man.There was a connection I didn't understand. The Man did not say anything, but I sensed something different was going on. What it was? Who was this Man who captured John's attention. John held his gaze on the man as if He knew him, but didn't know who he was. He seemed confused but in awe of this man. I watched the two of them interact without words, intrigued by what was happening.

The Jordan River, Photo by Mary Vee"

The Man stepped close to the water. John took a deep breath as though the very presence of this Man was so powerful, so great, like a child standing before a great king. The Man asked John to baptize Him. John shook his head and said, "I cannot. I am the one who should be baptized by you."The words surprised me. John hadn't said anything like that in all the days I'd listened to him. Who was this Man who had such an impact on John?The Man said, "This is the right thing to do. Trust Me. I must be baptized at this time to fulfill all the righteousness."John nodded as if he understood something much bigger than I could understand. I was so intrigued. I had to learn more. I came back every day, wanting to learn more about what John had to say and about the man who was baptized that day.Over a month went by since that day. The Man hadn't stopped by. I had no idea what he was doing and had hoped John would tell us more. There was a rumor that the Man went to the wilderness on His own.THEN, and this is the incredibly exciting part I wanted to tell you, the Man walked near where John spoke. How did I know he did? Because John stopped mid sentence and pointed at him. "Look," he shouted, "The Lamb of God!"As soon as I heard those words I ran to the Man. I wasn't alone. Another man ran too. We caught up to the stranger. He had to be a rabbi. Why else would John have directed us to him? The Man turned around and looked at us. He said, "What do you want?"I didn't know what to say. I didn't have an answer to the question so I said, "Um, where are you staying?" At least I could find out where to find him again tomorrow.He said, "Come, and you will see." Such a tender voice. One of a man who wanted to not only teach, but show us what He had to say. In that one day, I understood this Man had something to show me. Something I desperately had to learn more about. Something so big, I couldn't live without knowing it.I have more to tell you next time.Come back for the next story.

sources: *A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932*New International Version, New King James Version. *My Bible College training.*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.*Pastoral sermons on this time*Matthew Henry Commentary*F. LaGard Smith Commentary

Monday, May 15, 2017

My name is Jonathan Goforth. My wife, Rosalind and I are missionaries in China.

Rosalind, our children, the other missionary families who traveled with us, and I stepped off the riverboat in Shanghai. It seemed like millions of people crowded the streets. We could barely walk through the masses. And they weren't all Chinese. Foreigners of all races, from many countries, were here for many reasons like business, internships, education, drug dealing, other criminal activity, peace keeping, government, missionary...you name it, someone was here for that reason.

And all of them were in a panic. No, I am not exaggerating. Children sat on trunks crying, reaching out to their parents who were in a frenzy. They all needed to book passage on the few boats docked in the harbor. They needed money to pay for the tickets. They needed cash from their bank accounts. The banks didn't have that much money at their Shanghai office. What a mess.Chaos. Mass chaos.The first thing I did was to find an unfurnished home for my family to sleep the night. I took them there then went to the bank, took out all the money in my account, and purchased tickets for a ship headed to Canada. the ship will leave in ten days.I went back to the house and hugged my children. "Guess what? We are going to a restaurant!""Really, Daddy? Can we eat anything we want?"Poor thing was so hungry. We all were. "Yes. You can eat as much as you want."They barely had the energy to giggle. I scooped up the youngest. "Let's go." I can't remember the last time I ate so much food. Such delicious food. We waddled back to our rooms. Rosalind put the children to bed while I rested. I looked at my blood-stained clothes and leaned against the wall.

God had saved us. It was such a terrible journey, yet there we were, alive.

Praise God, I am alive and have another story to tell.

There is more. Come back next time.Jonathan has many stories to share. Come back each Monday to find out what happened next.

About Me

Welcome. I am a writer and speaker. My works include suspense/mystery young adult works and articles published in Children's periodicals, book reviews in library journals; three completed YA manuscripts. I have an MA in Guidance and Counseling, am a certified elementary teacher, a BRE from a Bible College, have been a case worker and camp counselor for the homeless, neglected, and abused. Email: maryveewriter@gmail.com

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